28 Weeks
"Mary, take a deep breath in, and out- at least try and pay attention to this class!" Marshall whispered anxiously, as she stared off into an entirely different direction,
"I already told you! I don't care about this panting BS! How you talked me into this stupid phooey is beyond me!"
"I'm not the one who is going to have to push a human being out of themselves now am I, listen!" he scolded, gently turning her head to the instructor, "I don't mean to be harsh, but you're in your third trimester- I want you to be prepared this time. I want it to be easier now that you understand what the process is like."
"You mean painful and embarrassing? Lying in an uncomfortable hospital bed, feet in stirrups, while some lady, whom I barely know takes peeks at my hoo-hah? Then I know precisely what I'm in for Marshall. There's no reason for me-
"Excuse me, but do you have something to share with our first time mothers?" the instructor interrupted, stopping Mary dead in the middle of her sentence. Marshall chuckled as he wiped the hair from her face that had fallen out from behind her ear during her apparently somewhat loud rant. He adjusted himself, behind her, stretching his legs which were straddled around his wife.
"That's not necessary." Mary stated, waving her hands to make it more obvious she was refusing the offer. "
Marshall could see the woman wasn't going to let up, and he knew Mary would, without question, pull her glock on this innocent bystander if she kept insisting, which, she seemed she was going to keep doing,
"Perhaps I could take the stage ma'am?" He raised his arm playfully, volunteering himself, while his partner eyed him suspiciously. She remember very well that he hadn't been present for Norah's birth, only what came before- the ride in the ambulance, settling into the hospital room, three hours of labor- unfortunately, after he had graciously offered to grab her things from her home, Mark had practically shooed him away. It's not like she could have stopped it, Jinx was nearly on top of her with ice chips and cool wash cloths and the pain was just…. Unbearable. She would have much preferred Marshall standing over her, spewing out words of encouragement and actual pieces of helpful information, rather than her panicking, overly excited ex-husband- who she was honestly sure had never understood where babies came from or ever fathom he'd be witnessing one first hand.
Marshall occupied his hands on her back to keep her quiet as he told some truth and fabricated the rest of his story to keep the class content and her calm,
"Well, you see. My Mary- she snorted, very loud- she went into labor at the end of her sister's beautiful wedding ceremony-
The class seemed to "aww" in unison, causing her to roll her eyes.
-I know, perfect ending to a perfect day, right?" he played along, applying more pressure to her shoulder blades.
"Sure, if perfect is you're water breaking all over your favorite leggings, or feeling like you have to take the most wicked- Marshall jabbed her gently on her shoulder,
"ANYWAY, Mary's water broke about fifteen minutes after her first debilitating contraction, and they continued on, steadily increasing in intensity for eight whole hours, I wasn't entirely sure if I'd ever feel my phalanges again-
"Phanlanges?" Mary snickered again,
"However, moments after I regained feeling in my fingers, her doctor informed us that Mary would have to push, now at first she was skeptical, scared to become a mother-
"Woah, woah, woah! No- don't listen to this cacophony story, Jesus. I wasn't scared because of that, I was scared because it felt like someone was tearing me apart from the inside an entire two months early, I was scared because up until I saw my kid in that incubator contraption in that hospital, I didn't even know if I could be a mom! I was scared that my job would suffer and my family would screw my kid up, I wasn't afraid of being a mom, I was afraid of losing everything to be something I never wanted to be in the first place! The labor and delivery, let's face it, is a piece of cake compared to three in the morning feedings and nasty diapers- of course it hurt like hell and I crushed Marshall's hand to near bits, but I got through it! Christ, he's telling you lies!" She elbowed him in his stomach, "Get on with your panting techniques and the hair stroking, our story is done!" Mary demanded the instructor, eying her husband, realizing he had done it all on purpose, the only thing he had been trying to prevent was the scene she had made, which he must have given up on, just to hear what was on her mind.
"We apologize, if you would continue, there's a possibility she'll be ready for story time next class." He winked,
"No, he's wrong- I won't be. Marshall I am going back to work, excuse me ladies." She replied sarcastically, struggling off of the pink mat, using any part of Marshall's for support, "I think I'll just skip the graphic birth videos, and spare myself the disturbing mental images." Mary pulled her blouse down, hiding the elastic waist band of her jeans.
He watched her exit the room, in partial awe.
"Umm, it was nice to be a part of your class..." he shook the teacher's hand, grabbed his jacket and took the same path out of the building.
He found her, sitting in the mini-van her arms crossed, a look that could kill spread across her face; Marshall was scared to open the driver's side,
"Why would you pull that crap in there?!" she hollered as he closed the door.
"I didn't pull anything per say, I was simply trying to support you! I was trying to get you to realize-
"I don't need to do any realizing! NONE! Marshall, I don't want to talk about how I felt when Norah was born, I don't want to feel how I felt when I was lying on those steps! I know how it was when I saw her for the first time- I loved her, and I don't need to do any realizing about that!" She huffed, pulling lint off the arm of her seat.
"I don't mean it that way, I just don't want you to suffer through this delivery!" he argued.
"No matter what, I'm gonna suffer! Okay! It's gonna hurt, I'm gonna scream! Classes are not going to change that! I am scared, YES! But you don't have to throw that out for the whole world to see, you don't have to display that to the universe!" she screamed.
He touched her cheek, but she pulled away,
"Don't-
"Stop telling me not to do things, stop telling me to stay away. I want to protect you; I want everything to be okay! Why are you fighting me?" Marshall begged.
"I don't need protection, I can take care of myself!-
"But the point is you don't have to anymore! The point is I am here! You don't need to worry about being scared or the unexpected because I am not going to let anything happen to you, Norah, or our baby!" he placed his hand on her protruding stomach and this time she didn't pull away. Underneath his long fingers he could feel the jabbing of a little foot, and some little fingers pressing back.
"I- OWAHHH-
Marshall pulled away, raising both of his arms as if to surrender,
"What?!" he asked, searching for any reason why she would cry out in pain like she did.
"Marshall- it's AHH- please, I don't- why is this happening?" Mary questioned, "I'm not even, I can't- she looked up to him pleadingly, "Why has everything gone wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong! Absolutely nothing!" He turned the key in the ignition already in reverse before the engine fully roared to life, "I'm telling you right now, you are not going to have this baby today!" he reassured, turning out of the parking lot, his tires screeching across the black pavement,
"I'm sorry Marshall, I'm sorry this pregnancy has caused you nothing but heart ache, I'm sorry nothing seems to be going right!" She bit her bottom lip, obviously refusing to cry. She knew if she let the tears fall she was no longer in control.
"This pregnancy has caused me the opposite of heart ache, this has been the most amazing experience of my life, and it's not ending tonight! We have three whole months more of all of this, of the crankiness, of the midnight food cravings, me waking up to find you, zoned out, playing with Norah's toes while she sleeps.." he trailed off, hoping he was making her feel better.
"Marshall…"
"Mary- he countered playfully- There will be no baby tonight!" he smiled.
"Okay- okay, no baby tonight, got it…" she breathed.
Uh-oh, what's happening to the mini Mann? My goodness does the baby drama ever seem to end for Mary! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please Review! I love reviews! XD